WORKERS celebrated the news that more than 800 jobs had been saved last week but those who refused to sign a rescue plan agreement have discovered their pension deals were worse than colleagues who voted for it.

Employees at the Grangemouth petrochemical plant react to the news that it is to stay open

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GRANGEMOUTH workers saved from the axe were yesterday faced with the harsh reality of life under new conditions imposed by owners Ineos.

One senior manager warned that redundancies were still on the way while those who refused to sign a rescue plan agreement discovered their pension deals were worse than colleagues who voted for it.

Workers at Scotland’s biggest industrial site celebrated the news on Friday that more than 800 jobs would be saved after the Unite union accepted a rescue package from the company.

But Ineos said yesterday that job cuts would still take place – and workers who refused to accept a “sign or be sacked” contract will get a smaller pension.

Gordon Grant, the site manager for Ineos at Grangemouth, said: “We have said very clearly we do not envisage many redundancies.

“The devil is always in the details of these things, but we cannot rule out redundancies.

“But we have just announced £300million of investment in new plant facilities on the site, so we are confident we will be able to retrain and relocate as many people as we can.”

Workers at the petrochemical plant also face having their pensions cut by billionaire tycoon Jim “JR” Ratcliffe to keep their jobs.

Their final salary pension is being axed and under the new scheme Ineos will contribute 11 per cent and employees six per cent.

But for new employees, Ineos will only contribute nine per cent while employees still pay in six per cent.

The 665 workers who did not sign the survival plan agreement will be sacked and rehired as new employees, only getting the reduced pension.

Those who did sign the contract will get a “sweetener” of between £2500 and £15,000.

Michael Connarty, Labour MP for Linlithgow and East Falkirk, said: “I think that will be a disaster for working relations in the plant.

“It will create a situation where the people who did not sign the agreement will be treated differently from those who took what I would call a bribe.

“There will be a two-tier workforce working side by side. To me, that would be a disaster.”

An Ineos spokesman said: “The employees made a choice. The offer was really clear – if they wanted the enhanced scheme all they had to do was say yes.

“Some chose not to.”

Ineos have promised that Grangemouth is now safe for 25 years but contractors who work there face an uncertain future.

Connarty said: “The company’s survival plan includes closing the ethylene plant, known as G4. There is no doubt there are going to be job losses. But it won’t just be among the Ineos workforce.

“The company is talking about ‘minimising working capital’, which presumably means doing less continual improvements on the plant.

“That means a lot of contract jobs will no longer be there.

“The company wants to take £50million out of the running of the site, which can’t just come from the employees. It is going to be the contract staff.”

The Grangemouth plant has been shut down for almost two weeks and will take another two or three weeks to fully reopen.

A Unite spokeswoman said: “Unite, acting on the expressed instructions of its members, has accepted the survival plan, warts and all.

“We are now in consultation with the company, which lasts until December 2, and would expect these issues to be resolved during that process.”

Meanwhile, billionaire Ratcliffe was back on board his new £130million luxury yacht in the south of France yesterday.

After the last-minute deal was struck to save Grangemouth, he jetted out to his new floating palace to lap up the sunshine in the French Riviera.

Ratcliffe – nicknamed JR after JR Ewing – relaxed on board the 225ft Hampshire II with guests as his crew of 23 attended to them while moored near the small fishing harbour of Port de la Madrague on the Cote d’azur.

The massive yacht is one of the world’s top pleasure crafts.

It has several grand staterooms and a teak helipad which can be converted into a tennis court and even a football pitch.

One Grangemouth worker said: “While the workforce worries about what the future holds for them, Ratcliffe was topping up his tan.

“He broke cover on Friday to say he had done his bit for Britain by keeping Grangemouth open, but he seems much more comfortable on board his yacht in the south of France.”

Last week Ratcliffe said the world had “moved on since the 1970s” .

He said that he had been “genuinely shocked” by the union’s initial refusal of the package and his offer to invest £300million.

Keen sailor Ratcliffe also owns Hampshire I and previously lived in a £6million estate in Hampshire.

However, in 2010 he moved to Lausanne in Switzerland, also relocating the headquarters of his company there to save £100million in tax.